Fig. 1

a α-Diversity of fecal microbiota over time. Black bars represent Chao1 indexes, gray bars represent the number of observed species in each sample. Data were calculated from partial 16S rRNA sequences and are presented as mean ± standard errors of the means (n = 48). Mean values for the same index (bars with same color) with unlike letters or asterisk (*) are significantly different (P < 0.05). b UniFrac distance (weighted) between fecal microbiota of piglets from the same sow (gray bars) and from all piglets (hatched bars) during the first 3 weeks after weanling. Mean values for the same group (bars with same color) and pairs at the same time point with unlike letters are significantly different (P < 0.05)